Grounded In The Night

He saw the world in burlesque,

light dancing upon the stage

The great blue fanning ocean

and rainbow colored pastie orbs

Caught between the music and the

shadow of the extreme

The curtain falling deftly marking

the beginning and the end

His dreams left to wander 

search the darkness for a home

To strip off their makeup and surrender

what tomorrow will disdain

Where back in the footlights all chaos

 and disorder will bawdily remask

Teasing what fantasy hides in fear 

—as an Angel sheds its wings

(The New Room: November, 2021)